Ramallah Burning?

I suppose, logically, it was only a matter of time before the violence in the Gaza Strip spread outwards to the West Bank, and thence to Ramallah. But it is both heartbreaking and maddening to hear that it has finally happened. The irresponsibility of the world in failing to resolve this conflict (or even to take steps in the direction of resoution) will wind up with much farther-reaching consequences than I think anyone sees today. The Times has more detail than WashPost today.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2507122,00.html

I know I've said before that answering the question of Palestine is a necessary condition for so much else in the Middle East, and that answer is more needed now than ever. There is a very tightly woven political web, and the question of the Palestinian Territories and Israel is central, if not to practicality, to the hearts and minds of the entire region.

To do this, though, the question of Israel must move from a fruitless (and moot) debate about existence, and into a more productive one of coexistence. There is a seeming aversion to real debate on both sides of the aisle - with a few significant exceptions, who deserve commendation. The terrorists, the hawks and the lobbyists, by choosing to use blunt instruments instead of subtlety, have lost the ability to listen, and have let the chance for peace elude them.

If people don't stop and listen to each other, they will continue to spiral downwards, and violence benefits no one. Not the Palestinians, not the Israelis, nor Egypt or Jordan, and ultimately not even Iran or Syria. And not the US.